Note, after writing this piece, 5 very late samples for 2016 appeared on the USADA website on 11th January.

Those five samples were:

Aiemann Zahabi

1

Jimi Manuwa

2

Jose Aldo

1

Joseph Duffy

1

Thiago De Lima Santos

1

Adjustments have been made in the article to allow for those.

Total testing for 2016

2016

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

TOTAL

Athletes Tested

286

326

359

374

585

Samples Collected

450

535

684

621

2,290

*note there is a minor discrepancy between this data and usada data because they have three Dong Hyun Kim’s on the go when there are only two

Testing By Weight Class

Welterweight and Lightweight as the two largest divisions naturally lead the way. On a sample by fighter measure though its the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions along with the heavier women’s divisions that are tested more.

Athletes Tested

Samples

SPF

Welterweight

109

383

3.5

Lightweight

106

365

3.4

Middleweight

65

280

4.3

Bantamweight

58

228

3.9

Featherweight

63

215

3.4

Heavyweight

45

213

4.7

Light Heavyweight

42

181

4.3

Woman’s Strawweight

39

152

3.9

Woman’s Bantamweight

27

129

4.8

Flyweight

28

119

4.3

Woman’s Featherweight

3

24

8.0

Testing by Nationality

No surprise that the majority of the samples come from American fighters as they make up 1/2 of the roster. Ireland however manage slightly more samples per fighter on average but that is mainly due to a certain Conor McGregor

Athletes Tested

Samples Collected

SPF

United States

277

1262

4.6

Brazil

92

346

3.7

Canada

25

79

3.1

Russia

24

74

3.1

Great Britain

22

73

3.2

Mexico

17

46

2.7

Poland

11

44

4.0

Japan

13

30

2.3

Australia

11

29

2.6

Sweden

7

26

3.7

Ireland

4

20

4.8

Korea

8

17

2.1

France

5

12

2.4

Denmark

4

9

2.3

Germany

4

8

2.0

Other

61

214

3.5

Division breakdown

+ numbers are “samples collected” not “tests” – more than one sample may be collected in a test session.
+ Also note, only completed test sessions are reported, so the data will not include failed test sessions, or instances when the testers have been unable to locate an athlete (an athlete is allowed two such strikes each year before penalty)
+ Champs marked in bold, former champs in italics (if held during 2016). McGregor has been included in featherweight as he spent the bulk of the year in that division.

Flyweight Division

Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson leads the way with 9 samples provided to USADA in 2016. Behind him, a whole gaggle of contenders on 7 samples for the year

Flyweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Demetrious Johnson

1.4

1

3

1

4

9

10

Ian McCall

9.1

2

2

1

2

7

7

John Moraga

6.4

2

2

1

2

7

7

Joseph Benavidez

6.4

2

0

3

2

7

8

Ray Borg

1.4

1

1

2

3

7

7

Sergio Pettis

3.4

1

1

2

3

7

7

Wilson Reis

6.4

1

2

2

2

7

7

Zach Makovsky

8.4

1

0

4

2

7

7

“Wks” is number of weeks since last test – as of January 5th 2017

Bantamweight Division

Again, no surprise to see former champion Dominick Cruz heading the testing stats closely followed by new champion Cody Garbrandt. Former champ TJ Dillashaw rounds out the top 5 most test bantamweights.

Bantamweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Dominick Cruz

0.4

5

3

2

4

14

15

Cody Garbrandt

0.4

1

3

3

4

11

11

Urijah Faber

n/a

2

3

2

3

10

12

Aljamain Sterling

6.4

3

3

1

2

9

10

TJ Dillashaw

6.4

3

2

2

2

9

10

Featherweight Division

Former champion and current lightweight champion Conor McGregor heads the testing for the featherweight division with 11 samples provided in 2016. Interestingly neither current featherweight champion Jose Aldo (6 samples in 2016) or interim champion Max Holloway (6 sample in 2016) feature amongst the most tested.

Featherweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Conor McGregor

7.4

5

0

3

3

11

19

Anthony Pettis

1.4

2

2

1

3

8

9

Brian Ortega

9.1

2

2

2

2

8

9

Yair Rodriguez

4.6

0

1

4

3

8

8

Dennis Bermudez

11.4

1

1

3

2

7

7

Frank Edgar

9.1

1

2

2

2

7

10

Lightweight Division

Again, like other divisions its no surprise to see former champions heading the test numbers with a bunch of contenders huddled together on 9 samples.

Lightweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Eddie Alvarez

4.6

4

2

3

5

14

16

Rafael Dos Anjos

1.4

4

2

3

2

11

17

Edson Barboza

9.1

2

3

2

2

9

12

Josh Burkman

1.4

2

2

4

1

9

9

Khabib Nurmagomedov

7.4

3

2

1

3

9

9

Michael Johnson

6.4

2

0

3

4

9

13

Nate Diaz

19.4

4

2

3

0

9

11

Welterweight Division

The same story at welterweight with champion, former champions and title contenders making up the most tested

Welterweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Johny Hendricks

0.4

3

4

2

4

13

15

Stephen Thompson

5.4

3

3

2

4

12

12

Tyron Woodley

7.4

3

4

2

3

12

13

Robbie Lawler

1.4

3

2

2

3

10

14

Carlos Condit

1.4

2

2

2

3

9

11

Middleweight Division

Anderson Silva who returned from his Nevada ban at the start of the year heads the pack.

Middleweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Anderson Silva

16.4

9

2

4

0

15

15

Nate Marquardt

6.4

1

3

4

4

12

13

Michael Bisping

1.4

4

3

2

2

11

11

Vitor Belfort

0.4

3

3

3

2

11

17

Yoel Romero

1.4

0

4

2

5

11

17

Light Heavyweight Division

Again, its the current champion that heads the stats. Former champion Jon Jones sits on 7 samples for the year.

Light Heavyweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Daniel R Cormier

1.4

3

2

3

3

11

15

Misha Cirkunov

5.4

3

3

2

2

10

10

Anthony Johnson

6.4

5

0

1

2

8

12

Ovince Saint Preux

4.6

1

3

2

2

8

8

Rashad Evans

1.4

1

2

2

3

8

10

Heavyweight Division

One of the few divisions where the most tested isn’t the champion. Instead its Josh Barnett who tested positive with a few weeks remaining in the year.

Heavyweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Josh Barnett

3.4

4

2

3

4

13

14

Cain Velasquez

1.4

4

2

2

3

11

13

Fabricio Werdum

1.4

2

3

3

3

11

15

Stipe Miocic

4.6

3

3

3

2

11

13

Ben Rothwell

9.1

4

1

2

2

9

10

Derrick Lewis

1.4

1

2

2

4

9

9

Travis Browne

9.1

3

1

3

2

9

10

Women’s straw-weight

Again the champion tops the stats in the form of Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Title challengers Claudia Gadelha and Valerie Letourneau also feature.

Womens Strawweight

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

11.4

3

1

3

2

9

12

Claudia Gadelha

6.4

0

4

2

2

8

10

Juliana Lima

3.4

1

2

2

3

8

8

Tecia Torres

1.4

3

0

2

3

8

10

Valerie Letourneau

1.4

1

1

2

4

8

9

Women’s Bantamweight (And featherweight)

And finally, women’s bantamweight also sees the former champion Miesha Tate as the most tested athlete of 2016 with 12 samples provided. Current champ Amanda Nunes and former champions Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey also feature amongst the “most tested” women of 2016.

Womens BW/FW

Wks

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2016

Total

Miesha Tate

n/a

6

2

2

2

12

12

Cristiane Justino

3.4

0

5

4

2

11

14

Amanda Nunes

0.4

2

2

4

3

11

12

Holly Holm

7.4

6

0

2

2

10

17

Ronda J Rousey

0.4

2

0

2

5

9

17

Cathilee Zingano

9.1

2

2

2

2

8

8

Marion Reneau

8.4

2

0

4

2

8

8

Champions

On the whole the champions are being tested pretty evenly and over all four quarters of the year, the exceptions being Jose Aldo and Max Holloway (who wo his title late in the year).